Mt. Rainer and Native Lupines by Ellen O'Shea
In 2012 I will strive to educate others to be able to go into any natural area and not only identify, but bring native plants back into their lives. I will teach others to be naturalists. I will teach the basics of botany. I will tell stories of transformation. In your journey to become a native plant naturalist I will teach you to journal, observe, illustrate and forage. I will teach you to move the native plants back into your close environment and to start using them for food, medicine, utility and to rebuild wildlife habitat. I will ask you to go outside at least once a day and observe, deeply observe a plant.
I promise to post to this weblog at least every two weeks and to use the following formula when I post:
- Short essay on a subject related to native plants.
- Education about a Naturalist who has greatly influence native plant education in our bioregion. I will Include the name, area of concern, quotes from their work and links to more information. I will be writing about people who loved the earth and want to protect it. Many times they left the wilderness because they knew unless they educated the masses about the beauty and sanctity of the wild place, it would be lost to industrialization and environmental degradation. Here is a list of just a few of the people I will be writing about: Johnny Moses, Lelooska,Mourning Dove [Christine Quintasket], Aldo Leopold, Celia Hunter, Gary Snyder, Terry Tempest-Williams, John Muir, Julia Butterfly-Hill, Henry David Thoreau, Lilla Leach, Edward Abbey and others.
3. Native plant of the month – including where to find, how humans and animals have interacted with it in the past, how it benefits the local and regional ecosystem and how to propagate it so that humans can bring it back into local ecosystems.
4. Botany lesson- starting from the beginning. Learn botany – one step at a time. Included will be lessons on finding, observing, illustrating, nature journaling and propagating native plants.
5. References and links – lots of them
Blessings to all in 2012 – welcome to the new earth.
